Variation in Perspectives
Critical response: In every continent, every country, every state and every dark alley there is a possibility of a rape. A rape is a cruel malevolent act that shows the empowerment of men over women.
It strips the woman of her self confidence, her identity, and brings upon a fear and darkness within her. She will feel disgusted at herself for letting this happen. She will feel as valueless as a mere tattered old puppet being controlled by strings. The incident will bring upon swirling dark storms of emotions, leaving a dark mark in her life like an eternal doom. In certain situations if the woman does survive, her greatest challenge will be scraping through the rest of her life.
Quaint societies if they knew the tragedy won’t give even the slightest streak of sympathy or support. They will control her destiny and make her go through a treacherous climb with sharp jagged rocks. The points of these rocks as sharp as pins will be sure to cut her. However it’s either a fall from the mountain into a tranquil darkness and emptiness or a climb up, despite the blood and pain. In other situations, such as in the Delhi gang rape, the woman’s life is lost forever like a snuff of a candle.
The question really is “are women’s lives really like a candle? Can they be brought to light by one, and snuffed out by one as per desire? The most recent rape that has been shown in every news channel and has been pondered upon with great remorse has been the Delhi gang rape. Today the general reaction of the public, especially the adolescents is to bring forth awareness for this cruel act. However two different onlookers, a man named Kannan from the outskirts of Delhi and a woman, Lyla living in Gurgaon can have different ideas and perspectives on this situation. The gender of an individual the culture and location they come from will affect the way they think and interpret. The first thought coming to Kannan would be “Why is the girl out late at night?” A man would believe that if a woman needs to stay safe without any problems she must not be outside late at night. It provokes men into committing crimes if they see women strolling about at night.
Men have stronger instincts that lead to profound attraction. Men tend to have their emotions amplified and generally because they are stronger they want to live out and express what they feel through actions. This is why Kannan would have immediately thought the girl should have been where she was supposed to be, home. Men tend to act based on their own needs they do not care about what comes in the way and the consequences. Women need to be worried about factors like getting pregnant however men do not have problems as such, and therefore do not need to consider anything before committing a rape. Hence Kannan would most certainly think that a young girl coming out late at night without even a second thought would be dim-witted.
Most men like power and when they see an opportunity they seize it. In this case it was just almost too easy as the man had an opportunity to get power. The woman was out late at night, and the senses of the men were muffled due to alcohol. Whether it is wrong or right to drink is not an issue at hand, all that matters is they had an easy ticket to power because of the presence of a woman at night. Kannan would also think that if a woman shows parts of her body it appeals to sober men, and amplifies the emotions of drunken ones. Even if it is not clear whether the girl was wearing appropriate clothes, it certainly is a factor to take into account.
This alone mostly doesn’t account for rape. However sometimes because of the vulgar attire men might assume that the woman is a slut or a prostitute and is ready for sexual intercourse. Kannan whilst reading the article could pin point the fact that the girl was with her boyfriend. If she really was an ambitious young girl why would her mind get diverted? And why would she be out late at night with her boyfriend? As she was out with a man she could have been a girl that invited wrongdoings. Hence the bus driver alone cannot be blamed for the incident, the woman invited him with here mere presence, attire, provoking and luring the man.
Lyla on the other hand, whilst reading the article will say that a woman can do whatever she wants. She can go wherever she wants with whomever she wants. If a man can do this so can a woman. It is not fair that a boy in this situation is left undisturbed, but a girl is picked and prodded upon. The unfairness of the situation is sure to make Lyla’s blood boil.
If a man has the right to do whatever he wants so can a woman. This young girl went out late at night to watch a film as she wanted to. The boyfriend did the exact same but did not have a fate like hers. This clearly depicts how a woman is given less respect than she deserves. She should be respected just like a man and given the same rights as a man.
The situation that she was thrust upon was not her fault at all. It was the fault of the 6 drunken men who lead her to a miserable fate. Lyla would rage over the fact that men use women as their objects of entertainment. Lyla would be sure to support the victim if the article did say that the victim’s clothes were “western”. A woman can’t help that her body is made in a certain way, it is god’s creation. Questioning her body is like questioning God himself.
It’s their body and it is their desire to dress as they like, just as men wear stylish clothes so can women. Lyla would also be sure to think that if a woman was respected and had rights, this would not happen to her regardless of the circumstances, the clothes or the location. She would have the freedom to safely to go in public transport. Now the two characters have great difference in the way they read and interpret the article. This is due to where they come from and how they were brought up and the influences of society and culture.
Lyla is all for women’s rights as she was brought up in the heart of the city, she is likely to have seen more people, gotten a better education and is sure to be broad minded. However Kannan on the other hand who is from a village believes as he does because his society and culture is quaint and live by their policies. His mind would be narrow as his life revolves around the few people in the village itself. The article can be read and interpreted differently if the vocabulary or the language was much difficult. An individual, who reads a lot of books, belongs to a city and is educated like Lyla is sure to understand the precise meaning of the text in comparison to an individual like Kannan, who is in a village and only knows basic English. However in the case of this article the English is basic and the situation is outlined in points so this is an issue that cannot be considered with regard to this specific article.
The article can also be interpreted differently by a person who has some sound background knowledge of law and an individual who doesn’t know anything about law as their reactions to the punishments that could be given to the driver can vary. Hence the way an individual perceives depends on the location, culture and knowledge.
